The Eagle and The Snake: A Tragic Love Story

42. When It All Becomes Real

With the arrival of the Order of the Phoenix, everything was thrown into chaos.
Spells flew in every direction, and it was often hard to see who the castor was.
Sirius pulled Harry away from the centre of the dais, so that he was out of the firing line.
And Luna did the same, pulling Carly in the opposite direction, away from the battlefield, and down the steps on the far side of the room.
"This is bad. This is really bad" mumbled Luna, as she continued pulling Carly out of harms way.
"Wait, we need to go back and get the prophecy" insisted Carly.
"There's no way we are going to get our hands on it now, with all this chaos going on" replied Luna.

"Fine... It's nice to know that like everyone else, Sirius prefers Harry over me. Even though I'm his niece, and not just his goddaughter" grumbled Carly, as she looked over her shoulder at where Sirius was protecting Harry from harm.
"Can you stop worrying about who likes you best, and focus on more important things, for like 2 seconds. We could die at any moment!" exclaimed Luna.

"Relax. The death eaters aren't going to attack us, because we are one of them. And the Order won't hurt us, because we are just kids, who they think are on their side" reminded Carly.
"That doesn't mean we won't get hit by a stray spell or a piece of debris. People are firing things all over the place right now, so we could still get hurt even though both sides think we are on their team" replied Luna.
"You've got a point. We should try and get out of here".

Carly and Luna continued making their way around the edge of the room, towards the door that lead back up to the Atrium.
Harry and Neville were attempting to head down the stairs on the dais, to join them on the lower level. But dozens of spells were being fired at them, making this descent very challenging.
When a stray spell hit Neville, his legs turned to jelly, causing him to knock into Harry.
As they both fell to the ground, the prophecy ball flew out of Harry's hand, and began to bounce down the stone steps, one by one.

When the prophecy ball hit the floor in front of the girls, it smashed, throwing glass in every direction.
Carly and Luna shielded their eyes, and when they looked back, they saw the shadowy form of Sybill Trelawney rising up out of the smoke.
The girls jaws dropped, as Trelawney then began to recite the prophecy, that everyone was so concerned about.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...."

Once the prophecy had been recited, Trelawney's ghost faded away as if it had never been there at all.
With all the noise going on in the room, the girls were pretty sure that they were the only ones who had heard the prophecy.
Which meant the future of the wizarding world was now in their hands. And whatever they decided to do with this knowledge, would impact everyone they knew.

Carly had always known that Voldemort would have to kill Harry one day.
But hearing Trelawney's prophecy made it feel so much more real to her.
Harry really was the only person who could defeat Voldemort, and stop the world Carly longed for, from being created.
Which meant that Harry would have to die, and Carly would have to be O.K with that.

Suddenly the world around them exploded, knocking the girls backwards, and snapping Carly's attention back to the present.
As they climbed back up, a figure with long, wild, black hair ran to their sides.
"Are you two O.K?" Asked Bellatrix, with a concerned look on her face.
"We're fine" reassured Carly, as she looked at Luna, who nodded her head, indicating that she was O.K.

"Still, you should both get out of here. You did a great job earlier convincing Harry to hand over the prophecy, little one. And your plan nearly worked. But it's too dangerous for young undercover death eaters like you to get involved in this now. For this is a real battle, and not something you are ready for yet. Leave it to more experienced killers like me" insisted Bellatrix.
"Trust me, we want nothing more than to get out of here. But unfortunately the world around us keeps blowing up, making it difficult for us to get out" admitted Carly.